1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a production method of an electrophotographic photosensitive member.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, research and development of electrophotographic photosensitive members (organic electrophotographic photosensitive members) using organic photoconductive substances have been conducted briskly.
Fundamentally, an electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a supporting member and a photosensitive layer formed on the supporting member. The photosensitive layer which constructs an organic electrophotographic photosensitive member uses a charge generation material and a charge transport material as a photoconductive material, and uses a binder resin as a resin which binds these materials. As layer structure of the photosensitive layer, there are laminated structure that respective functions are functionally separated into a charge generation layer and a charge transport layer, and monolayer structure that these materials are made to be solved or dispersed in a monolayer. Most electrophotographic photosensitive members adopt construction of a laminated photosensitive member, in this case, a charge transport layer becomes a surface layer in many cases, and a protective layer may be provided in order to make the surface layer highly durable.
Since a surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter, simply a “photosensitive member” in some case) is a layer in contact with various members or a sheet, various functions such as mechanical strength or chemical stability of a material which constructs the surface layer to contact are requested. Many proposals for these requests have been made from an aspect of improvement of materials which construct a surface layer.
Among the above-mentioned proposals, a proposal of functional enhancement of a photosensitive member surface by performing convexoconcave processing of the photosensitive member surface is made. For example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. H07-97218, a production method of a photosensitive member which forms a trench in a surface by surface finishing which makes film-shaped abrasive rub with the photosensitive member surface is disclosed. In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H02-150850, a proposal of producing a depressed portion on a surface by performing sandblast treatment is made. Although Japanese Patent Publication No. H07-97218, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H02-150850 are production methods of processing a photosensitive member surface after formation of the photosensitive member surface, as another method, a photosensitive member that a convexoconcave form is produced on a photosensitive member surface in a forming step of a surface layer of the photosensitive member is disclosed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S52-92133).
While a photosensitive member that a convexoconcave form is formed in a photosensitive member surface like Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S52-92133 is proposed, a production method of not forming a liquid droplet trace in a photosensitive member surface is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-10303. Description in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-10303 points out that a surface condenses with heat of vaporization of a solvent at the time of photosensitive layer coating, traces of condensation occurring at that time remain as pores in a photosensitive member surface, and they are a factor of black spots on an image, and toner filming. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-175008 also expresses a production method of a photosensitive member which prevents whitening by the same condensation as that in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-10303.